Perfect Product Photos Made Easy

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words – it can also be worth dollars in your pocket. Posting beautiful and appealing photos of your products can catch customers’ eyes, draw them in, and even sell your product for you.

For some, the idea of producing good quality photos is daunting and seems time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. The following are some product photo tips that will help you take great pictures for your product listings on your online store, eBay, Etsy, or any other ecommerce site you use.

Product Photo Tips for Listings

Utilize Natural Lighting

Natural, diffused lighting will give you the best and brightest photos. You can set up your shot near a window, or even near a white (or other light-reflective) wall. If you have to take photos on a cloudy day, or when there isn’t a lot of light, you can make your own reflector out of white cardboard or even aluminum foil. Aim to take photos that are well-lit, but keep an eye on the shadows that are cast.

Focus on Your Item

The depth of your photo is important. When you are photographing small items, get as close as you can to the item. This will make the customer want to reach out and grab it. In those situations, select the smallest aperture on your camera, or the “macro” setting, to get a clear, focused picture.

Pay Attention to the Background

While you want to keep your background fairly simple so that it doesn’t take anything away from your item, you do want the staging to be attractive and look professional. You really don’t have to create anything expensive, as there are lots of natural things that you can use that you will find nearby.

Using wood grain, grass, stone, gravel, sand, or any other attractive, natural surface that will highlight your item. There are also lots of other items that show off smaller items nicely – vintage books, fine china, sheet music, and fabrics. Consider the environment that best reflects the aesthetic of the item.

Stabilize Your Equipment

One of the most technical product photo tips is to stabilize your equipment. You may think that you have the steadiest hand around, but you will likely notice the quality of your photos improves when you stabilize your camera. You don’t have to invest in a fancy tripod, just find a stable surface, like a table, to rest your camera on. You can also make your own DIY stabilizer that’s a lot less expensive than buying a professional one.

Add Finishing Touches

You have some easy options when it comes to making your pictures perfect. You don’t have to be a graphic designer to do it. Use an online photo editor like PicMonkey or Pixlr to crop, brighten and enhance your photos. This is great for adding illustrations that demonstrate the scale or measurements of the product. Adding these elements creates trust with your shopper and increases your odds of converting browsers into customers.

4 Product Shots to Master

When you have the above product photo tips under your belt, you can move on and try some different types of shots. Any one of these can look like it was professionally done, even if you are just working with the camera on your smartphone. When you create your listings, include multiple types of shots of your item because you don’t always know what will appeal to everyone.

1.The Studio Shot

This involves just your product and a neutral background. It’s clean and there are no distractions from your product. It’s a classic shot that emphasizes your item, and shows buyers exactly what they will get. Amazon is particularly strict about requiring at least one studio shot in all listings.

2.The Macro Shot

This shot is up close and personal with your item. It’s a perfect shot when you want to show off the smallest details of your product. An intimate image of your product gives your shopper all the detail they need to make their decision.

3.The Scale Shot

You’ll often see this type of shot when the items are jewelry, handbags, or clothing. The item is worn, or shown being used, so that the viewer can tell the size. Using weights and centimeters are hard for most of us to interpret, so shoppers depend on scale size to ensure that what they’re ordering will fit their needs perfectly.

4.The Lifestyle Shot

This shot shows the item in its natural habitat, or it shows what wonderful things will happen when your customer buys it (think liquor advertisements full of hot girls, loud music, and wild parties). This creates a vision in the buyer of what they will do when they buy your product.

Don’t Be Afraid to Pick Up and Shoot

The best thing that you can do to learn to take photos that sell your products is practice. When you are preparing to list your inventory on Etsy or the like, take lots of pictures. Shoot your product from different angles and distances, try different backgrounds, and photo-editing tricks.

You’ll start to see what works and what doesn’t and you’ll get faster, better, and sell more products. These product photo tips are just the first step on your journey to perfect photos. While you’re at it, make sure you don’t make any of these ecommerce product photo mistakes.

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2 Comments

Rubyqcreations
on September 23, 2018 at 8:32 am

Really helpful tips about Etsy. I haven’t quite decided what I want to sell yet but what I have marketed doesn’t even get one look let alone a sale so I need help. Still finding my brand it seems.

We’re glad you found the article helpful, and we totally understand the frustration of trying to figure out what to sell. One way to approach this problem is to think about niches. Niche products are very specific, and tend to drive heavier traffic to your site. You can read more on that here.